Fox shark - fox fighting fish. Common sea fox sea fox shark

The species was first scientifically described as Squalus vulpinus  in 1788, by the French naturalist Pierre Joseph Bonnaterre. In 1810, Constantin Samuel Rafinesk described Alopias macrourus  based on an individual caught off the coast of Sicily. Later authors recognized the existence of a separate genus of fox sharks and synonymous Alopias macrourus  and Squalus vulpinus. Thus, the scientific name of the fox shark became Alopias vulpinus .

Generic and species names come from the words Greek. ἀλώπηξ   and lat. vulpes, each of which means "fox". In old sources, this species is sometimes called Alopias vulpes .

Morphological and allozyme analysis revealed that the fox shark is a basal member of the clade, which also includes the big-eyed and pelagic fox sharks. The possibility of the existence of a fourth still undescribed species belonging to the genus of fox sharks and the most closely related Alopias vulpinuswas rejected after an allozyme analysis conducted in 1995.

Area

The range of common sea foxes covers temperate and tropical waters around the world. In the western Atlantic, they are common from Newfoundland to the Gulf of Mexico, although they rarely appear off the coast of New England, as well as from Venezuela to Argentina. In the eastern Atlantic Ocean, they live from the North Sea and the British Isles to Ghana, including Madeira, Azores and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as from Angola to South Africa. In the Indo-Pacific region, fox sharks are found from Tanzania to India, in the Maldives, off the coast of Japan, Korea, southeast China, Sumatra, the east coast of Australia and New Zealand. They also come across numerous Pacific islands, including New Caledonia, Society Islands, Tabuaeran and Hawaii. In the eastern Pacific, they are found in coastal waters from British Columbia to Chile, including the Gulf of California.

Fox sharks make seasonal migrations, moving to high latitudes after the masses of warm water. In the eastern Pacific Ocean, males make longer migrations than females in late summer and early fall, reaching Vancouver Island. Young sharks prefer to stay in natural nurseries. Probably, in the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean and in the western part of the Indian Ocean, there are separate populations with different life cycles. Interoceanic migrations are absent. In the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean from January to May, when offspring are born, territorial and vertical segregation by sex is observed. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA revealed significant regional genetic variations of fox sharks that live in different oceans. This fact confirms the hypothesis that sharks from different habitats, despite migrations, do not interbreed.

Despite the fact that fox sharks are sometimes seen in the coastal zone, they mainly lead a pelagic lifestyle and prefer to stay on the high seas, descending to a depth of 550 m. Young sharks can often be found in shallow water near the coast.

Description

A characteristic feature of fox sharks is a very elongated upper lobe of the caudal fin, the length of which can equal the length of the body. Common sea foxes are active predators; with the help of the tail, they are able to stun the victim. They have a strong torpedo-shaped body and a short, wide head with a conical, pointed snout. There are 5 pairs of short gill slits, with the last two cracks located above the long and narrow pectoral fins. The mouth is small, curved in the form of an arch. In the mouth there are 32-53 upper and 25-50 lower dentitions. The teeth are small, without nicks. The eyes are small. The third eyelid is absent.
  Long crescent pectoral fins narrow to narrow pointed tips. The first dorsal fin is rather high and is located closer to the base of the pectoral fins. The ventral fins are approximately the same size as the first dorsal fin; males have thin, long pterygopodia. The second dorsal and anal fins are tiny in size. In front of the caudal fin there is a crescent-shaped dorsal and ventral notches. At the edge of the upper lobe there is a small ventral notch. The lower lobe is short, but developed.

The skin of fox sharks is covered with small, overlapping placoid scales, each of which bears 3 ridges. The posterior edge of the scales ends with 3-5 marginal teeth. The dorsal surface of the body is metallic lilac-brown to gray, the sides are bluish, and the belly is white. The white color extends to the base of the pectoral and ventral fins - this distinguishes fox sharks from similar to the pelagic fox sharks, in which there are no spots at the base of the fins. White edging of the pectoral fin tips is possible.

Ordinary sea foxes are the largest representative of the family, they reach a length of 7.6 m and a mass of 510 kg.

Biology

Nutrition

97% of the diet of ordinary sea foxes consists of bony fishes, mainly small and schooling such as bluefin, mackerel, herring, garfish and luminous anchovies. Before attacking, sharks circle around the school and compact it with blows of the tail. Sometimes they hunt in pairs or in small groups. In addition, large solitary fish, such as sawtooths, as well as squids and other pelagic invertebrates, can become their prey. Off the coast of California, they prey mainly on California anchovies Engraulis mordax, oregon hake Merluccius productus, Peruvian sardine, Japanese mackerel, squid Loligo opalescens  and crab Pleuroncodes planipes. During the cold oceanographic regime, the composition of their diet is poorer, while during periods of warming the food spectrum expands.

There are numerous reports of fox sharks using the upper lobe of the caudal fin to stifle prey. Repeated cases have been recorded when, when striking, they caught their tail behind a tier. In July 1914, Russell J. Coles witnessed how an ordinary sea fox sent a prey to the mouth with a flick of the tail, and if it missed, the fish flew a considerable distance. On April 14, 1923, the oceanographer W.E. Allen, standing on the pier, heard a loud splash nearby and saw at 100 meters a swirl of water that a diving sea lion could produce. A moment later, a meter-long flat tail rose above the surface of the water. Further, the scientist watched as a fox shark pursued the California atherina. Atherinopsis californiensis. Having overtaken the prey, she whipped her tail, like a coachman's whip, and severely injured her. In the winter of 1865, Irish ichthyologist Harry Blake-Knox watched as an ordinary sea fox whipped a wounded loon (possibly a black-headed loon), which it then swallowed in the Dublin Bay. Subsequently, the reliability of the Blake-Knox report was questioned on the basis that the tail of the fox shark is not rigid or muscular enough to deliver such a blow.

Life cycle

  Fox sharks breed by egg-laying. Mating occurs in the summer, usually in July and August, and childbirth takes place from March to June. Pregnancy lasts 9 months. Fertilization and development of embryos occurs in utero. After emptying the yolk sac, the embryo begins to feed on unfertilized eggs (intrauterine oophagia). The teeth of the embryos are in the form of pegs and are not functional because they are covered with soft tissue. As they develop, they become more and more similar in shape to the teeth of adult sharks and “erupt” shortly before birth. In the eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, the number of litter varies from 2 to 4 (rarely 6) newborns, and in the eastern part of the Atlantic - from 3 to 7.

The length of newborns is 114-160 cm and depends on the size of the mother. Young sharks add 50 cm per year, while adults grow only 10 cm. The age at which puberty is reached depends on the habitat. In the north-eastern part of the Pacific Ocean, males mature at a length of 3.3 m, which corresponds to the age of 5 years, and females at a length of 2.6-4.5, which corresponds to the age of 7 years. Life expectancy of at least 15 years, and the maximum period is about 45-50 years.

Human interaction

Despite its large size, it is believed that ordinary sea foxes are not dangerous. They are timid and immediately swim away when a person appears. Divers testify that it is difficult to approach them. The International Shark Attack File recorded one provoked attack of a fox shark on a person and 4 attacks on boats, probably committed by hooked sharks. There is unconfirmed evidence of an attack on a harpooner off the coast of New Zealand.
  Famous athlete-fisherman Frank Mandas in his book Sportsfishing for Sharks  retold the old story. One ill-fated fisherman leaned over the side of the boat to look at big fishcaught on his hook. At that moment, he was beheaded by a tail strike with a five-meter shark fox. The fisherman's body capsized into the boat, and his head fell into the water and could not be found. Most authors consider this story unreliable.

Ordinary sea foxes are the subject of commercial fishing in Japan, Spain, the USA, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico and Taiwan. They are mined in tiers, pelagic and gill nets. Meat, especially fins, is much appreciated. It is consumed fresh, dried, salted and smoked. The skin is made, vitamins are made from liver fat.

In the United States, commercial fishing for fox sharks using floating gill nets on the South Carolina coast has been developing since 1977. Fishing began with 10 vessels that used large-mesh networks. For 2 years, the fleet totaled 40 ships. The peak occurred in 1982, when 228 vessels caught 1,091 tons of fox sharks. After that, their numbers decreased sharply due to overfishing, and in the late 80s, production decreased to 300 tons, large individuals stopped coming across. In the United States, fox sharks are still caught, with 80% of the catch being caught in the Pacific Ocean, and 15% in the Atlantic. Most fox sharks are still caught using gillnets off the coast of California and Oregon, although the main target there is the more valuable swordfish. Xiphius gladiusand fox sharks are caught as by-catch. A small number of these sharks are caught in the Pacific Ocean using harpoons, fine-mesh drift nets and longlines. In the Atlantic, fox sharks are more likely to be caught as by-catch when fishing for swordfish and tuna.

Due to the low fecundity, representatives of the genus of fox sharks are very susceptible to overfishing. For the period from 1986 to 2000, according to the analysis of the pelagic longline catch, in the northwestern Atlantic the number of common sea fox and big-eyed fox shark decreased by 80%.

Fox sharks are valued by fishermen along with mako sharks. They are caught on a fishing rod with a bobbin reel. As bait using bait.

Since the 1990s, there has been a restriction on fox shark hunting in the USA. It is legally forbidden to cut fins from live sharks by throwing carcass overboard. In the Mediterranean Sea, there is a ban on the use of drift nets, but poachers illegally use such nets up to 1.6 km long when fishing for swordfish. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assigned this species the status “Vulnerable”.

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Notes

1.   in the FishBase database (Retrieved August 27, 2016).
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6. : IUCN Red Book website information
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References

• akyla.info/vidy_lis/4.html
• View in the World Register of Marine Species ( World Register of Marine Species) (English)

Excerpt from Common Sea Fox

On this day, Countess Elena Vasilievna had a rout, had a French envoy, had a prince, who had recently become a frequent visitor to the Countess’s house, and many brilliant ladies and men. Pierre was downstairs, walked through the halls, and struck all the guests with his concentrated, diffused and gloomy look.
  Pierre from the time of the ball felt the approach of attacks of hypochondria and with a desperate effort tried to fight against them. From the time the prince approached his wife, Pierre was unexpectedly confined to the chamberlain, and from that time he began to feel heaviness and shame in a large society, and more often he began to come back with gloomy thoughts about the futility of everything human. At the same time, the feeling he noticed between the patronage of Natasha and Prince Andrei, his opposition to his position and that of his friend, reinforced this gloomy mood. He equally tried to avoid thoughts of his wife and of Natasha and Prince Andrew. Again, everything seemed to him insignificant in comparison with eternity, again the question arose: "why?" And he forced himself day and night to work on Masonic works, hoping to drive away the approach of an evil spirit. Pierre at 12 o’clock, leaving the Countess’s chambers, sat upstairs in his smoky, low room, in a worn dressing gown in front of the table, and rewriting genuine Scottish acts when someone entered his room. It was Prince Andrew.
  “Ah, it's you,” said Pierre with a distracted and displeased look. “And here I am working,” he said, pointing to a notebook with that kind of salvation from the hardships of life with which unhappy people look at their work.
  Prince Andrew, with a radiant, enthusiastic and renewed face to life, stopped in front of Pierre and, not noticing his sad face, smiled at him with an egoism of happiness.
  “Well, my soul,” he said, “I wanted to tell you yesterday and now came to you for this.” Never experienced anything like it. I'm in love, my friend.
Pierre suddenly sighed heavily and fell with his heavy body on the sofa, next to Prince Andrew.
  - To Natasha Rostov, right? - he said.
  - Yes, yes, in whom? I would never have believed it, but this feeling is stronger than me. Yesterday I suffered, suffered, but I will not give up this torment for anything in the world. I have not lived before. Now only I live, but I cannot live without her. But can she love me? ... I'm old for her ... What aren't you saying? ...
  - I AM? I AM? What did I tell you, ”Pierre suddenly said, getting up and starting to walk around the room. - I always thought that ... This girl is such a treasure, such ... This is a rare girl ... Dear friend, I ask you, you don’t be in doubt, get married, get married and get married ... And I’m sure that you will not be happier than a person.
  - But she!
  “She loves you.”
  “Don't talk nonsense ...” said Prince Andrei, smiling and looking into Pierre’s eyes.
  “He loves, I know,” Pierre cried angrily.
  “No, listen,” said Prince Andrew, stopping his hand. “Do you know what position I am in?” I need to tell everyone to someone.
  “Well, well, say, I'm very happy,” Pierre said, and his face really changed, his wrinkles smoothed, and he joyfully listened to Prince Andrei. Prince Andrei seemed and was a completely different, new man. Where was his longing, his contempt for life, his disappointment? Pierre was the only person to whom he dared to speak; but then he expressed to him everything that he had in his soul. That he easily and boldly made plans for a long future, talked about how he can not sacrifice his happiness for the whim of his father, how he will force his father to agree to this marriage and love her or will do without his consent, then he was surprised how something strange, alien, independent of him, on that feeling that possessed him.
  “I would not believe someone who would tell me that I can love that way,” said Prince Andrei. “This is not at all the feeling I had before.” The whole world is divided for me into two halves: one is it and there is all the happiness of hope, light; the other half - everything where it does not exist, there is all gloom and darkness ...
  “Darkness and darkness,” Pierre repeated, “yes, yes, I understand that.”
  - I cannot but love the light, I am not to blame for this. And I am very happy. You understand me? I know that you are happy for me.
  “Yes, yes,” Pierre confirmed, looking with touching and sad eyes at his friend. The brighter the fate of Prince Andrew seemed to him, the darker seemed his own.

For marriage, the consent of the father was necessary, and for this the next day, Prince Andrei left for his father.
The father, with outward calm, but with inner malice, accepted the message of his son. He could not understand that anyone wanted to change life, to bring something new into it when life for him was already over. “They would only give me the chance to live as I want, and then they would do what they wanted,” the old man told himself. With his son, however, he used the diploma that he used in important cases. Taking a calm tone, he discussed the whole matter.
  Firstly, the marriage was not brilliant in relation to kinship, wealth and nobility. Secondly, Prince Andrei was not of his first youth and poor health (the old man especially leaned on it), and she was very young. Thirdly, there was a son whom it was a pity to give to the girl. Fourth, finally, - said the father, mockingly looking at his son, - I ask you, put off the case for a year, go abroad, heal, find the Germans, as you want, for Prince Nikolai, and then, if it’s love, passion, stubbornness, what you want, so great, then get married.
  “And this is my last word, know the last ...” the prince finished in such a tone that he showed that nothing would force him to change his mind.
  Prince Andrey clearly saw that the old man hoped that the feeling of his or his future bride would not stand the test of the year, or that he, the old prince, would die by this time, and decided to fulfill his father’s will: make an offer and postpone the wedding for a year.
  Three weeks after his last evening with the Rostovs, Prince Andrei returned to Petersburg.

The day after her explanation with her mother, Natasha waited all day for Bolkonsky, but he did not come. On the other, the third day was the same. Pierre also did not come, and Natasha, not knowing that Prince Andrei had gone to his father, could not explain to himself his absence.
  So three weeks passed. Natasha did not want to go anywhere, and like a shadow, idle and dull, she walked around the rooms, secretly cried from everyone in the evening, and did not come to her mother in the evenings. She blushed incessantly and annoyed. It seemed to her that everyone knew about her disappointment, laughing and regretting her. With all the strength of inner grief, this conceited grief exacerbated her misfortune.
  Once she came to the countess, wanted to say something to her, and suddenly burst into tears. Her tears were the tears of an offended child who himself does not know what he was punished for.
  The countess began to reassure Natasha. Natasha, listening first to her mother’s words, suddenly interrupted her:
  “Stop it, mom, I don’t think, and I don’t want to think!” So, I traveled and stopped, and stopped ...
Her voice trembled, she almost burst into tears, but recovered and calmly continued: “And I really do not want to get married.” And I'm afraid of him; I’ve completely, completely, calmed down now ...
  The day after this conversation, Natasha put on that old dress, which she was especially aware of for the cheerfulness that he delivered in the mornings, and in the morning she began the same way of life that she had lagged behind after the ball. After drinking tea, she went to the hall, which she especially loved for her strong resonance, and began to sing her solfegi (singing exercises). Having finished the first lesson, she stopped in the middle of the hall and repeated one musical phrase, which she especially liked. She listened joyfully to that (as if unexpected for her) charm with which these sounds poured filled the entire void of the hall and slowly froze, and she suddenly felt fun. “There’s so much to think about it so well,” she said to herself, and began to walk back and forth around the hall, not just taking steps on the parquet floor, but at every step stepping from the heel (she wore new, favorite shoes) to her toe, and just as joyfully as the sounds of his voice, listening to that measured heel and creaking sock. Passing by the mirror, she looked into it. - "Here I am!" as if the expression on her face spoke at the sight of herself. “Well, that's good. And I don’t need anyone. ”
  The footman wanted to go in to clean something in the hall, but she did not let him in, again shutting the door behind him, and continued her walk. She returned this morning again to her beloved state of self-love and admiration for herself. - "What a charm this Natasha!" she said again to herself with the words of a third, collective, masculine face. - "Good, voice, young, and she does not bother anyone, leave her alone." But no matter how much she was left alone, she could no longer be dead and immediately felt it.
  The front door of the staircase opened, someone asked: is it at home? and someone's footsteps were heard. Natasha looked in the mirror, but she did not see herself. She listened to the sounds in the front. When she saw herself, her face was pale. It was he. She knew this correctly, although she barely heard the sound of his voice from the shut doors.
  Natasha, pale and frightened, ran into the living room.
  - Mom, Bolkonsky has arrived! - she said. - Mom, this is terrible, it is unbearable! - I do not want ... to suffer! What should I do?…
Even the countess did not have time to answer her, when Prince Andrei with an anxious and serious face entered the living room. As soon as he saw Natasha, his face shone. He kissed the countess and Natasha’s hand and sat beside the sofa.
  “For a long time we had no pleasure ...” the countess began, but Prince Andrei interrupted her, answering her question and obviously in a hurry to say what he needed.
  - I have not been with you all this time, because I was with my father: I needed to talk with him about a very important matter. “I just returned last night,” he said, glancing at Natasha. “I need to speak with you, Countess,” he added after a moment of silence.
  The Countess, with a sigh, lowered her eyes.
  “I am at your service,” she said.
  Natasha knew that she needed to leave, but she could not do this: something was tightening her throat, and she was impolite, directly, with open eyes, looking at Prince Andrei.
  "Now? This very minute! ... No, it cannot be! ” she thought.
  He looked at her again, and this look convinced her that she was not mistaken. - Yes, now, her fate was being decided right now.
  “Come, Natasha, I will call you,” said the countess in a whisper.
  Natasha, with frightened, imploring eyes, looked at Prince Andrey and her mother, and went out.
  “I have arrived, Countess, to ask for your daughter’s hands,” said Prince Andrei. The countess's face flushed, but she said nothing.
  “Your proposal ...” the countess began, sedately. - He was silent, looking into her eyes. “Your offer ... (she was embarrassed), we are pleased, and ... I accept your offer, I am glad.” And my husband ... I hope ... but she herself will depend ...
  “I will tell her when I have your consent ... will you give it to me?” - said Prince Andrew.
  “Yes,” said the countess and held out her hand, and with a mixed sense of estrangement and tenderness pressed her lips to his forehead as he bent over her hand. She wanted to love him like a son; but she felt that he was a stranger and a terrible person for her. “I'm sure my husband will agree,” said the countess, “but your father ...”
  - My father, to whom I informed my plans, laid down an indispensable condition for consent is that the wedding be no earlier than a year. And this is what I wanted to tell you, ”said Prince Andrei.
  - True, Natasha is still young, but for so long.
  “It could not be otherwise,” said Prince Andrew with a sigh.
  “I will send her to you,” said the countess and left the room.
“Lord, have mercy on us,” she asserted, looking for her daughter. Sonya said that Natasha was in the bedroom. Natasha sat on her bed, pale, with dry eyes, looked at the image and, quickly baptized, whispered something. Seeing her mother, she jumped up and rushed to her.
  - What? Mom? ... what?
  - Go, go to him. He asks for your hand, - said the countess coldly, as it seemed to Natasha ... - Go and go, - said the mother with sadness and reproach after the runaway daughter, and sighed heavily.
  Natasha did not remember how she entered the living room. Entering the door and seeing him, she stopped. "Has this stranger really done everything for me now?" she asked herself and instantly replied: "Yes, that's it: he alone is now more expensive for me than anything else." Prince Andrey went up to her, looking down.
  “I fell in love with you the moment I saw you.” Can i hope
  He looked at her, and the serious passion of her expression struck him. Her face said: “Why ask? Why doubt that you cannot not know? Why speak when it is impossible to express in words what you feel. ”
  She approached him and stopped. He took her hand and kissed.
  - Do you love me?
  “Yes, yes,” Natasha spoke as if in frustration, she sighed loudly, another time, more and more often, and sobbed.
  - About what? What's wrong with you?
  “Ah, I'm so happy,” she answered, smiled through her tears, bent closer to him, thought for a second, as if asking herself if this was possible, and kissed him.
  Prince Andrey held her hands, looked into her eyes, and did not find in his soul his former love for her. Something suddenly turned in his soul: there was no previous poetic and mysterious charm of desire, but pity for her female and childish weaknesses, there was a fear of her loyalty and credulity, a heavy and at the same time joyful awareness of the duty that forever bound him to her. The real feeling, although it was not so light and poetic as the former, was more serious and stronger.
  - Did maman tell you that this cannot be earlier than a year? Said Prince Andrei, continuing to look into her eyes. “Is it really me, that girl is a child (everyone said that about me) Natasha thought, am I really from now on a wife equal to this alien, dear, smart personrespected even by my father. Is that really true! is it really true that now it’s impossible to joke with life, now I’m big, now I have the responsibility for all my work and word? Yes, what did he ask me? ”
  “No,” she answered, but she did not understand what he was asking.
“Forgive me,” said Prince Andrei, “but you are so young, and I have already experienced so many lives.” I'm scared for you. You do not know yourself.
  Natasha listened with concentrated attention, trying to understand the meaning of his words and did not understand.
  “No matter how difficult this year will be, delaying my happiness,” continued Prince Andrei, “you will believe yourself in this period.” I ask you in a year to make my happiness; but you are free: our engagement will remain a secret, and if you would have been convinced that you did not love me, or would have loved ... ”said Prince Andrei with an unnatural smile.
  “Why are you saying that?” - interrupted him Natasha. “You know that from the very day you first arrived in Otradnoye, I have loved you,” she said, firmly convinced that she was telling the truth.
  - In a year you will recognize yourself ...
  - A whole year! - suddenly said Natasha, now only realizing that the wedding was postponed for a year. - But why the year? Why year? ... - Prince Andrew began to explain to her the reasons for this delay. Natasha did not listen to him.
  - And it is impossible otherwise? She asked. Prince Andrei did not answer, but his face expressed the impossibility of changing this decision.
  - It's horrible! No, it's terrible, terrible! - suddenly spoke Natasha and sobbed again. - I will die, waiting for the year: it is impossible, it is terrible. She looked into the face of her fiancé and saw on him an expression of compassion and bewilderment.
  “No, no, I will do everything,” she said, suddenly stopping the tears, “I am so happy!” - Father and mother entered the room and blessed the bride and groom.
  From that day on, Prince Andrey began to go to the Rostovs with his fiancé.

There was no betrothal and no one was announced about the engagement of Bolkonsky with Natasha; Prince Andrew insisted on this. He said that since he was the cause of the postponement, he must bear the brunt of it. He said that he had forever bound himself with his word, but that he did not want to bind Natasha and left her complete freedom. If in six months she feels that she does not love him, she will be in her own right if she refuses him. It goes without saying that neither parents nor Natasha wanted to hear about it; but Prince Andrew insisted on his own. Prince Andrey visited the Rostovs every day, but not like the groom treated Natasha: he told her to you and kissed only her hand. Between Prince Andrei and Natasha, after a day of proposal, completely different than before, close, simple relations were established. They seemed to still not know each other. And he and she loved to remember how they looked at each other when they were still nothing, now both of them felt like completely different creatures: then they were feigned, now simple and sincere. At first, the family felt awkward in dealing with Prince Andrei; he seemed to be a man from an alien world, and Natasha had long accustomed the family to Prince Andrei and proudly assured everyone that he only seemed so special, and that he was the same as everyone, and that she was not afraid of him and that no one should be afraid his. After several days, the family got used to him and did not hesitate to live with him the previous way of life in which he took part. He was able to talk about the economy with the count and about the outfits with the countess and Natasha, and about albums and canvases with Sonya. Sometimes the Rostovs at home with each other and under Prince Andrew were surprised at how all this happened and how obvious the omens were: the arrival of Prince Andrei in Otradnoye, and their arrival in St. Petersburg, and the similarities between Natasha and Prince Andrei, which the nanny noticed on her first visit Prince Andrei, and the clash in 1805 between Andrei and Nikolai, and many other omens of what happened, were noticed by the family.
The house was dominated by the poetic boredom and silence that always accompanies the presence of the bride and groom. Often sitting together, everyone was silent. Sometimes they got up and left, and the groom and the bride, remaining alone, were also silent. Rarely did they talk about their future life. Prince Andrew was scared and ashamed to talk about this. Natasha shared this feeling, like all his feelings, which she constantly guessed. Once Natasha began to ask about his son. Prince Andrei blushed what happened to him often now and that Natasha especially loved, and said that his son would not live with them.
  - From what? - Natasha said in fear.
  “I can't take it from my grandfather and then ...”
  - How I would love him! - said Natasha, immediately guessing his thought; but I know you want no excuse to blame you and me.
  The old count sometimes approached Prince Andrei, kissed him, asked him for advice on the upbringing of Petit or the service of Nicholas. The old countess sighed, looking at them. Sonya was afraid to be superfluous every minute and tried to find excuses to leave them alone when they did not need it. When Prince Andrei spoke (he spoke very well), Natasha proudly listened to him; when she spoke, she noted with fear and joy that he was looking at her attentively and inquiringly. She asked herself in bewilderment: “What is he looking for in me? What is he seeking with his eyes! What, if not in me what he is looking for with this look? ” Sometimes she went into her insanely cheerful mood, and then she especially liked to listen and watch how Prince Andrei laughed. He rarely laughed, but when he laughed, he surrendered himself to his laughter, and every time after this laughter she felt closer to him. Natasha would have been completely happy if the thought of the impending and impending separation had not frightened her, since he also grew pale and cold at the mere thought of that.
  On the eve of his departure from St. Petersburg, Prince Andrew brought Pierre with him, who had never been to the Rostovs since the ball. Pierre seemed confused and confused. He was talking to his mother. Natasha sat with Sonya at the chess table, inviting Prince Andrey to her. He went up to them.
  “Have you known Bezukhov for a long time?” - he asked. - Do you love him?
  - Yes, he is glorious, but very funny.
  And she, as always talking about Pierre, began to tell jokes about his absent-mindedness, jokes that even invented him.
“You know, I believed him our secret,” said Prince Andrei. - I have known him since childhood. This is a golden heart. I beg you, Natalie, ”he said suddenly seriously; - I'll leave, God knows what might happen. You can spill ... Well, I know that I should not talk about it. One thing - no matter what happens to you when I am gone ...
  “What will happen?”
  “Whatever grief,” continued Prince Andrei, “I ask you, m lle Sophie, no matter what happens, turn to him alone for advice and help.” This is the most absent-minded and funny person, but the most golden heart.
  Neither father and mother, nor Sonya, nor Prince Andrei himself could have foreseen how the separation from her fiance would affect Natasha. Red and excited, with dry eyes, she walked around the house that day, doing the most insignificant things, as if not understanding what awaited her. She did not cry, and the minute he said goodbye, the last time he kissed her hand. - Do not leave! She only spoke to him in such a voice that made him think about whether he really needed to stay and which he remembered for a long time after that. When he left, she did not cry either; but for several days she sat crying in her room, was not interested in anything, and only said sometimes: “Ah, why did he leave!”
  But two weeks after his departure, she just as unexpectedly for those around her, woke up from her moral illness, became the same as before, but only with altered moral physiognomy, like children with a different face get out of bed after a long illness.

The health and character of Prince Nikolai Andreich Bolkonsky, in this last year  after the departure of his son, weakened very much. He became even more irritable than before, and all the flashes of his causeless anger were mostly falling upon Princess Mary. It was as if he diligently sought out all her sore spots in order to torment her as severely as possible. Princess Mary had two passions and therefore two joys: the nephew of Nikolushka and religion, and both were favorite topics of the prince's attacks and ridicule. Whatever they were talking about, he reduced the conversation to the superstition of old girls or to pampering and spoiling children. - “You want him (Nikolenka) to be made as an old girl like yourself; in vain: Prince Andrei needs a son, not a girl, ”he said. Or, turning to mademoiselle Bourime, he asked her under Princess Marya how she liked our priests and image, and joked ...